Vincent Pastore, who was best known for his iconic role as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on the first two seasons of The Sopranos, has passed away at 80. According to reports, he died of natural causes. The actor, who was a Vietnam veteran, only entered acting in middle age, getting his big break when he happened to be driving a limo for Kevin and Matt Dillon. The two helped him break into the industry, and soon he was playing small tough-guy roles in mob-themed movies like Goodfellas and Carlito’s Way. Bigger roles followed, with him usually cast as mobsters, but perhaps his breakthrough was his role in the HBO telefilm Gotti, which included many future Sopranos cast members and likely put Pastore in contention for what would become his defining role.
Indeed, Sal was one of the breakout characters in the first two seasons, with him infamously becoming an FBI informant. His murder by Tony Soprano and the rest of the crew aboard Tony’s boat is considered one of the show’s defining moments. Pastore would occasionally return to the series as his death continued to haunt James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano throughout the rest of the show’s run. The role gave Pastore a real niche, with him appearing in many more mob-themed films and TV shows, including the underrated Hugh Grant comedy Mickey Blue Eyes and the Guy Ritchie film Revolver. Throughout the 2000s, he was also a regular on reality competition shows such as Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Family Feud, where he won tens of thousands of dollars that he donated to charity. Notably, in the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, he donated his $50,000 appearance fee to a charity founded by his ex-wife in memory of the man she married after they divorced.
Despite being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, Pastore stayed busy right up until the end, appearing in two recent Showtime series, The Curse and Yellowjackets.
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